Rode AI-Micro

I bought this to get some high quality musical musings down on the go, whether just with audio or with video. I have been pretty happy with the results I have gotten so far. It‘s not super professional sounding, but a 24bit/48kh level of sound out of something small enough to fit in your wallet (I have mine stored in my traveler‘s notebook‘s wallet insert) is nothing to sneeze at.

I also did try some experiments with this unit, so if you are looking for something that will handle specific tasks, be aware of the following:

* In order to fully utilize all the features of this product, especially on your mobile unit such as a smart phone, you need to download one of Rode‘s proprietary apps (I use the Rode Central app myself, but most people use the Rode Reporter).
* The mic connectors are designed for use with TRS and TRRS. I got the best recording experience out of the lavelier mic I purchased with this product., which tells me that the sound device was designed for use with such a mic. I hooked up a dynamic mic using a ProSnake female xlr to 3.5 mm mini-jack, and while it worked just fine, I had to turn the gain on the Rode Central app all the way up to match that of the lavelier mic. This goes with out saying, but if you wish to use a condenser mic with this, you will need a 48V phantom power preamp.

* This unit was not made to be used with instruments. If you wish to use one with this device, you would need to plug said instrument into something that will match mic levels., and plug THAT into the device I used a Millienium DI-E passive unit to play my A/E guitar into AI Micro, and it worked just fine.

* Line in works amazingly well. If you wish to record a stereo line in, you would use the „stereo input“ on the proprietary Rode app and then plug the audio patch cord into „mic 1“. Which now leads to my biggest caveat -

*If you want to record, say, a set of you and your friends jamming, and you want a plugged in experience, and you want the whole thing in stereo you are going to have to get an external mixer, and run everything into „Mic 1“ of the device. This is probably overkill for what a lot of people need but I occasionally want some back up on some of these videos or podcasts, and the external mixer (of any sort) turned out to be must.

I have had fun working with this and seeing what it can REALLY do. Looking forward to some further adventures with this thing.

The Røde AI-Micro is a pocketable audio interface that enables up to two microphones to be connected for recording or live podcasting via most computers or smartphones, through the supplied cables. I have not attempted to record instruments or other line inputs through the device.

Cleverly, the AI-Micro automatically works with both TRRS (iPhone-type three black ring) and TRS (two black ring) 3.5mm input plugs, making adaptors unnecessary. The device also permits low impedance (less than 100 Ohm) headphones to be used for live monitoring, unlike the Røde SC-6 smartphone adaptor. While the AI-Micro will work straightaway with most audio apps, Røde.com offers a suite of free software which enables the device to be customised for channel mode, monitoring and output quality, and it is worth downloading this to obtain the best results.

I bought the AI-Micro to allow me to explore podcasting, using my existing analogue microphones. It has worked surprisingly well, providing richness and clarity from moderately priced Røde VideoMicro shotgun and Boya BY-M1 Lavalier mics. The DAC in the device is very competent and, although the background noise floor is not to professional standards, it is good enough for my purposes. Any latency while monitoring is not discernible, although the native output volume could be higher through 64 Ohm Behringer HPX2000 headphones. Overall, I recommend this handy and relatively inexpensive accessory.